Sacred Water: Standing Rock is the first in an 8-part documentary series that showcases Indigenous activists across the Americas rising up to protect their ancestral homelands and the environment. There will be a public screening of the documentary on Monday, April 23 on the UPEI campus (7:00 pm) in honour of Earth Day 2018.

The film will be introduced by Eliza Starchild Knockwood, who has recently released her own film about water protectors – TheWater Protectors Journey – Along the Sipekne’katik River. (Since the fall of 2016 Mi’kmaq Water Protectors, supported by non-Indigenous allies, set up a treaty truck house along the banks of the Sipekne’katik River near the Alton Gas brine-dumping site.)

More about Sacred Water, Standing Rock:
The people of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation of North and South Dakota are fighting to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from being built on their ancestral homeland. The pipeline would snake its way across four states, bisecting sacred Indigenous sites and burial grounds along the route.

The 45-minute film was shot towards the beginning of the Standing Rock protests in 2016, and ends just as new protestors and allies join them, responding to desperate social media calls for support. It is a moving examination of a protest movement on the brink of gaining international attention.

Award-winning journalist and author, Joan Baxter will be in PEI to talk about and read from her book, “The Mill: Fifty Years of Pulp and Protest”, on Sunday, May 6th.

Since 1967 the Abercombie mill, under various owners, has used the tidal estuary at Boat Harbour as a waste lagoon. Boat Harbour (A’Se’K), is traditional Mi’kmaq territory, of great importance to the Pictou Landing First Nation. It was historically used as a harbour and was rich in eels, lobster and other shellfish. As a result of the continuous dumping of wastewater, today it is a toxic soup containing some of the world’s most dangerous chemicals.

In 2015 the Nova Scotia Government passed the Boat Harbour Act, which requires the Abercrombie mill to have a new treatment facility in operation by 2020 and which mandates the clean-up of the Boat Harbour lagoon. Late in 2017, Northern Pulp, current owners of the mill, made public its proposal for a new effluent treatment plant. The new system would see up to 90 million litres of litres treated wastewater discharged into the Strait each day.

The mill is situated directly across the Northumberland Strait from Prince Edward Island. Local fishermen have expressed concern about the potential impact of such a large amount of fresh (and warmer) water being discharged into the Strait, which is prime lobster fishing ground.

Melanie Giffin, a marine biologist and program planner with the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association, says even if the effluent is as clean as possible, the sheer amount of fresh water being introduced into the Strait could have a detrimental affect on multiple species. “As we know, fresh water floats and so does all of our larvae, more specifically lobster larvae,” she says. Giffin will also be present at the event to offer some local perspective on the Northern Pulp waste treatment plan.

The event will take place on Sunday, May 6th at 2:00 pm at the PEI Farm Centre on University Avenue in Charlottetown. It is being hosted by the PEI Chapter of the Council of Canadians, Save our Seas and Shores PEI, Sierra Club – Atlantic Canada Chapter and the McKillop Centre for Social Justice.

Opinion Piece published in the Charlottetown Guardian, December 7, 2017

By Catherine O’Brien and Marie Ann Bowden

The Coalition for the Protection of PEI Water recently met to discuss the newest draft of the Water Act. After an inclusive and thorough participatory process, we are disappointed that no public consultation was allowed for this final draft.

Opinion Piece by Gary Schneider and Don Mazer

November 30, 2017

The unveiling of the Water Act did little to resolve the central issue which sparked the creation of the Act – the moratorium on high capacity wells. Over 90% of those who participated in the extensive Water Act consultations were in favour of maintaining the moratorium. Unfortunately, the Act does not reflect this strong consensus.

To be clear, the draft Water Act does NOT include a moratorium on high capacity wells. Surprisingly, “high capacity wells” is only mentioned in a slide presentation on the Act, not in the Act itself. Under the heading “High capacity wells for Ag irrigation”, it says that “Water extractions will be addressed in regulations once the research on stream flow has been completed.”

The problem is that a very complex issue appears to have been simplified to a question of volume. In the face of climate change and competing needs, will we ever have enough scientific certainty to accurately predict how much water might be available for different uses? Even if we do develop trustworthy models, there is so much more to the question of how to safeguard PEI’s precious water resources for future generations than mere volume. Continue reading “A Troubling Issue of High Capacity Wells”→

The Water Act was tabled for second reading in the P.E.I. Legislature on November 29. As debate continues, and in the absence of further public consultation, it is important for MLAs to hear from us. The Coalition has identified several ways in which the act could be improved:

Enshrine that water is a right.

Make the fracking ban a real ban

Use the right names for the terms: precautionary principle, intergenerational equity

Do not allow municipalities to to exceed limits on water withdrawals

Put the moratorium on high capacity wells in the Act

Recognize Indigenous title and jurisdiction to watersheds in the Water Act.

The Council of Canadians PEI Chapter will hold a Public forum on water, NAFTA and supply management on Tuesday, October 10, 7 p.m. at the Rodd Charlottetown, Kent Street, Charlottetown.

Maude Barlow, Honourary Chairprson of the Council of Canadians, author of Boiling Point, her latest book, will speak on government neglect, corporate abuse, and Canada’s water crisis including PEI’s.

Doug Campbell, District Director of PEI National Farmers Union will address water issues facing Prince Edward Island including the new PEI Water Act, drought, climate change, and the moratorium on high capacity deep water wells for agricultural irrigation. Doug will also discuss Supply Management as it relates to trade deals.

Scott Sinclair, trade expert and senior researcher with the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives will give an overview of what’s at stake for Islanders and Canadians in the current NAFTA negotiations.

The Public Forum is free and everyone is welcome. There will be an opportunity for public participation.

Leo Broderick, Chair of the Council of Canadians is urging Islanders to attend. “We are at a critical time on PEI as we face increased pressure from Cavendish Farms and PEI Potato Board to have the moratorium on high capacity deep water wells lifted. Our water is still being contaminated from agricultural pollution. As well, supply management is threatened by trade deals including NAFTA. Islanders need to know the facts and take a stand. This public forum will help.”

Nouhad Mourad, chair of the Council of Canadians’ PEI Chapter will be the moderator and Eliza Knockwood will open the Public Forum.

Charlottetown – The decision of the Minister of Communities, Land and Environment to allow genetically modified salmon to be grown in Prince Edward Island was the result of a faulty environmental assessment process, says a local environmental group.

On Tuesday, July 11, representatives of the Coalition for the Protection of PEI Water met with Minister Mitchell to discuss the Coalition’s concerns about the approval of the proposal by AquaBounty Canada, Inc. to expand their plant in Rollo Bay West. The original approval, which was for an egg production facility, was expanded to a facility at which genetically modified salmon would be grown to market size, and then killed before being exported.

Thursday, June 8th is World Oceans Day, and to mark the occasion, Save our Seas and Shores PEI and the Holland College Green Machine will present SONIC SEA, the award-winning documentary film about the devastating impact of human-produced ocean noise on whales and other marine life.

SONIC SEA travels beneath the ocean’s surface to uncover the damaging consequences of increased ocean noise pollution and what can be done to stop it. Narrated by Academy Award-nominated actress Rachel McAdams and featuring interviews with marine ecologists, ocean life experts, and wildlife activists, including Grammy-Award winning musician, human rights and environmental activist Sting, SONIC SEA highlights how noise from a range of human-made sources has affected whales in recent years, including the mass stranding of whales around the planet. The film uncovers how better ship design, speed limits for large ships, quieter methods for underwater resource exploration, and exclusion zones for sonar training can work to reduce the noise in our oceans and stop the deaths of our ocean’s beloved creatures, as long as society has the political will to solve it. [discovery.com]

The film will be shown in Room 21C at Holland College, main campus, starting at 7 p.m.

Immediately following the screening, Dr Lindy Weilgart will be available to comment and answer questions. Lindy is an Adjunct Research Associate at Dalhousie University, and specialist in the effects of underwater noise pollution on cetaceans. She has served as invited noise expert for DFO Canada, U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, International Whaling Commission, NATO, European Parliament, Convention on Biodiversity, and the United Nations, and has published numerous peer-reviewed papers. She currently serves as Scientific Advisor for the International Ocean Noise Coalition.

The Stratford and Area Watershed Improvement Group, a member of the Coalition for the Protection of PEI Water, made a written submission

– There is a significant concern regarding the ability of the minister to allow municipalities to exceed water allocation rates, even outside of emergency situations or exceptional circumstances. Further, even “emergency” exceedances should be time-limited, and only where water conservation and all other means to reduce demand have been implemented; including, for example, restrictions on non-essential uses such as car washing and lawn watering.

– Outside of the definitions, water conservation is not addressed within the Act itself, whether from a residential, commercial, industrial or municipal perspective. SAWIG strongly feels water conservation is a fundamental component to long-term protection and preservation of PEI’s water. It is unfathomable that municipalities and other sectors will be allowed to increase their water use when conservation is not taken into consideration. Continue reading “Stratford & Area Watershed Improvement Group Shares Concerns about Draft Water Act”→